As early as the sudden outbreak of the Xiaodaohui uprising, the soldiers of European and American countries in Shanghai had already discovered that the explosive power of the Wu army's grenade projectile seemed to far exceed that of the black powder grenade, but at that time, the Qing army still had the advantage, and the Xiaodaohui rebel army retreated into the city, and the Wu army did not use the picric acid weapon too much, so the foreigners did not attach great importance to it at that time, and the consuls of various countries did not spend too much effort to investigate the reason.

However, as the situation in Shanghai reversed again, the Taiping army reinforcements arrived to surround the Wu army camp in turn, and Wu Jun Lian Yong was forced to use a large number of picric weapons, the Western countries gradually discovered that the situation was wrong, and began to collect information about picric weapons. Fortunately, at that time, Wu Jun Lian Yong was closely surrounded by the Taiping Army, and the foreigners could not have direct contact with Wu Jun Lian Yong, and they could not see the real thing, and at the same time, the backward industrial level of the Manchu Qing Dynasty also made the foreigners think that the picric acid weapon could not be produced by the Wu Army, and the intelligence collection found that Wu Jun's grenades were purchased from the British, so the Americans, France, and Prussians all pointed their suspicions at the British, and the main spy targets were not concentrated on Wu Jun.

As for the British at that time, because they also believed that the picric acid weapons could not be produced by Wu Jun, the intelligence officers under Ali Guo mainly focused on the two major purchasers of Wu Jun's weapons, the United States and Prussia, and suspected that these two countries secretly developed new weapons and sold them to Wu Chaoyue.

The peak period of foreigners spying on each other was after the battle when the Wu army broke through Zhou Lichun's camp, when many foreigners watched the battle from a distance and witnessed the great power of picric acid shells, and then immediately stared at Wu Chaoyue, trying to find the real source of picric acid weapons through Wu Chaoyue's ammunition supply channels. And after continuing to get nothing, today the foreign consuls saw with their own eyes the terrifying killing effect of Wu Jun's picric acid shells in the French Concession, Qi Liyun and Aitang and other European and American consuls could no longer hold their breath, in order to find the real source of Wu Jun's picric acid weapons as soon as possible, Qi Liyun and Aitang and others simply came directly to Wu Chaoyue to inquire.

Fortunately, the consuls of European and American countries still refused to believe that Wu Chaoyue, who had no industrial base, could produce picric acid weapons by himself, so their request was only for Wu Chaoyue to honestly explain the source of these weapons, and to provide them with a little sample.

Although the foreigner's request was simple, it also made Wu Chaoyue hurt his brain, offended the foreigner by not giving samples and not telling the truth, and the words he gave exposed the secret of picric acid, and accelerated the climbing speed of the foreigner's explosives technology, and it may also lead to the picric acid weapon falling into the hands of the Taiping army and the Manchu army, becoming a huge threat to his future, and he was in a dilemma.

Seeing that Wu Chaoyue was silent for a long time, Qi Liyun also misunderstood Wu Chaoyue's meaning, so he said: "Wu, if you have signed a confidentiality contract with a country or businessman that sells new weapons, then we respect your position, and you don't have to disclose the source of your weapons. But it's impossible not to lose weapons on the battlefield, and I'm sure the arms dealer doesn't require you to make sure that the weapons don't leak out, so you just need to give me a few samples. ”

The French consul Ai Tang agreed, and also said that Wu Chaoyue did not necessarily have to disclose the source of the weapon, as long as he gave him some samples of the weapon. The Prussian consul who sold weapons to Wu Chaoyue the most, Ah Huawei, also said: "Wu, we Prussians have always been your most loyal and reliable friends, now that the Crimean War is in full swing, the damned Russians are seriously threatening the eastern borders of our Prussians, if you can sell me some advanced weapons in your hands, you can sacrifice countless Prussian loyal soldiers, and we Prussians will always remember your help to us." ”

"Mr. Avaway, you Prussians are already at war with the Russians?" Wu Chaoyue's heart moved, and he hurriedly asked.

"Ready for war at any time!" Ah Huawei replied truthfully, "The insatiable Russians have brazenly invaded the Danube Valley, and the countries there are friendly neighbors of our Prussians, and they are also our Prussian cousins, and our government has signed an alliance agreement with Austria to help them resist Russia's shameless attack, and is ready to fight the Russians to the end!" ”

After that, seeing that Wu Chaoyue was also very interested in the situation in Europe, Ah Huawei said again: "Wu, don't worry, we Prussia will win!" The Ottoman Empire had already declared war on the Russians last year, Britain and France had declared war on Russia this year, plus we, Prussia and Austria, and most of Europe had already made the damned Russians enemies, and it was only a matter of time before we defeated the Russians. ”

Wu Chaoyue didn't speak again, and after thinking for a while, Wu Chaoyue got up and went to his own pile of documents, turned out a copy of the newspaper he received a few days ago, and put it in front of Ah Huawei and Qi Liyun and others, pointing to one of them for them to watch, when Qi Liyun and others looked at it carefully, they saw that the newspaper said that it was the sixteenth day of the third lunar month of this year, and the Russians who had blatantly invaded Sakhalin Island last year were insatiable, and sent an armed fleet to invade Heilongjiang.

Seeing this, Ah Huawei, Qi Liyun and the others of course pretended to scold a few words about the greed and shamelessness of the Russians, and then Qi Liyun asked Wu Chaoyue suspiciously: "Wu, what are you letting us do with this article?" ”

"Dear consuls, I would like to make a deal with you." Wu Chaoyue said with a serious expression: "If you can persuade your domestic government to force Russia to withdraw from Heilongjiang by diplomatic means or force and return Sakhalin Island to our Qing Dynasty, then I will unconditionally hand over to you the gunpowder formula and production process of the new weapon." ”

"Wu, what did you say?" Qi Liyun and the others were all taken aback, "You used the gunpowder formula and production process of the new weapon in exchange for our domestic intervention to force the Russians to return Sakhalin?" ”

"Yes." Wu Chaoyue nodded--Wu Chaoyue knew very well that he could not keep the secret of bitter acid forever, and instead of offending foreigners or handing them over obediently, it was better to use it to do something big to curb the expansion momentum of polar bears in Northeast China. At the same time, Wu Chaoyue also made up his mind that as soon as he left Shanghai, he would immediately start developing safety explosives, grab the Nobel Prize, and maintain his military superiority.

Qi Liyun, Ah Huawei and the others opened their mouths, and after a while, Qi Liyun suddenly came back to his senses and asked in surprise: "Wu, listen to what you mean, could it be that the new weapon you use is produced by yourself?" ”

"Yes." Wu Chaoyue nodded calmly and said with a smile: "Dear Mr. Qi Liyun, I don't have to lie to you, the new gunpowder was developed and researched by me alone, and it has some shortcomings in preservation, transportation and use, but I have overcome them one by one." If you can help us defend ourselves against the barbaric tactics of the Russians and help us regain the occupied territories, then I will give you all these things for free! ”

Of course, Qi Liyun, A Huawei and the others couldn't believe it, and they only asked Wu Chaoyue about various details, and Wu Chaoyue replied: "Dear consul gentlemen, you don't have to ask, for the sake of secrecy, I will never tell you these details." But you have also seen with your own eyes the great power of the new gunpowder I invented, and you must have known how much of it was of economic and military value, and you must have known it in your mind. You decide what to do. ”

After that, Wu Chaoyue also added: "By the way, I must solemnly remind you that I will be invited to visit Mr. Ali Guo later, why Mr. Ali Guo invited me to meet in the concession, I think you know very well in your hearts." Britain has declared war on Russia, and Britain has always attached great importance to their interests in the Far East, and I think that the quid pro quo I have proposed will be carefully considered by the British side. The British army is already strong, and if they become stronger, I ask you to consider carefully what the impact will be on you. ”

Qi Liyun, Ai Tang and A Huawei, the three consuls of the great powers, were silent, their eyes rolled in their hearts, and after a long time, the French consul Ai Tang, who had also declared war on Russia, was the first to speak: "Wu, I am only a consul and have no right to decide such an important matter, but I will immediately report the situation to Minister Plenipotentiary, Mr. Bourblon, and ask him to decide whether to accept your quid pro quo." ”

The Prussian consul Ahuawei, who was already preparing for war with Russia, also said that he would immediately contact his minister, but the American consul Qi Liyun, who was currently gloriously isolated, was extremely embarrassed, and only after a long time shook his head and said: "Wu, it is impossible, my country should not agree, I can only give it a try, first report this situation to our American consul, Mr. Mailian, and ask him to make a decision." ”

"Then let's do it." Wu Chaoyue smiled and said: "Mr. Qi Liyun, don't worry, if the gloriously isolated United States insists on not being willing to intervene in the Qing-Russia dispute, we can also discuss other exchange methods." However, in order to thank the Western countries that selflessly helped the Qing Dynasty, I can only achieve my goal first and then negotiate with you in exchange for terms. ”

Qi Liyun nodded with satisfaction, and the consuls of the three countries immediately returned to the concession to send people to contact the ministers of their own countries in China, who were all living in Hong Kong, it was getting late, Wu Chaoyue needed to settle the army, and he did not rush to the British concession until the next day, and told Ali Guo about his quid pro quo, and Ali Guo, who had already regarded the northern market of China as his own bag, was naturally happy to use domestic forces to drive out the Russians, and he also immediately sent a messenger to Hong Kong to contact the new British minister in China.

Declining Ali Guo's kindness to invite him to dinner, Wu Chaoyue led his entourage and prepared to leave the concession by the road of Nichengbang. And because of the war, the relatively safest concession was already overcrowded, and the streets were full of people, and the carriage in which Wu Chaoyue was riding was squeezed into the crowd and had difficulty moving. Seeing this scene, although he was wearing civilian clothes in order to enter the rental world, Wu Chaoyue, who was greedy for life and afraid of death, still opened the curtain and instructed Wu Dadao, who was also wearing civilian clothes, and other personal soldiers to protect their carriages strictly and not to give outsiders a chance to approach.

At first, Wu Chaoyue thought that he was wrong, but when he quickly took a closer look, Wu Chaoyue was pleasantly surprised to find that not only did he not make a mistake, but the woman did not dodge, but gave herself a blank look. Wu Chaoyue was overjoyed in his heart, hurriedly ordered to stop, and then rushed directly to the young woman, the young woman still did not dodge, and held her chest with both hands, highlighting her already attractive ****, and said with a sneer: "What are you doing?" Want to catch me? Don't forget that this is a concession, you don't have the right to arrest me! ”

"If I was willing to catch you, you wouldn't have been able to run away a long time ago." Wu Chaoyue whispered, and then smiled and said: "Shimei, I didn't expect that we could meet here, the opportunity is rare, how about finding a place to talk alone?" ”

"What is there to talk about between me and you?" The young woman asked unceremoniously.

"What needs to be discussed between me and you, don't you know, sister?"

Wu Chaoyue smiled and asked, the young woman glanced at Wu Chaoyue again, turned her head and said nothing, but Wu Chaoyue was unceremoniously, pulled up the young woman and left, the young woman struggled to resist, but Wu Chaoyue resolutely refused to let go, a pair of triangular eyes were still staring at the young woman's eyes, the young woman's face was flushed, and the strength to resist gradually decreased. Wu Chaoyue was even more polite when he saw her give up struggling, picked her up and walked forward, and directly pulled her to a foreigner restaurant next to her............

………………

It was a coincidence that when Wu Chaoyue brazenly invited a young woman to open a room to talk, almost at the same time, thousands of miles away, in the northeastern suburbs of Hefei City, Luzhou Prefecture, Anhui Province, a pair of ragged father and daughter were supporting each other on the difficult southward road, walking with difficulty, the injured father suddenly weakened his feet, and fell headlong on the road, frightening his daughter, who was only twelve or thirteen years old, crying, "Dad! Father! What happened to you? Don't scare me! Father! What's wrong with you, Dad? ”

A middle-aged woman and a young man, out of sympathy, ran to the road to help the little girl pick up her father, but the tragic thing was that the little girl's father was now white-eyed and breathless, and had died, and the little girl was so heartbroken that she crawled on top of her father and fainted from crying.

The little girl's luck was very good, although she suffered the tragic misfortune of the destruction of her family and the sudden death of her father, but she met a kind person when her father died. Seeing the little girl crying bitterly and fainting, the middle-aged woman carried her back to her barely well-off home, and let her son bury the little girl's father, while she fed water and porridge, and finally woke the little girl up, and let the little girl, who had been hungry for more than a day, eat a full meal.

It wasn't until the little girl drank the rice porridge that the middle-aged woman asked her about her life, the little girl sobbed and said that her name was Yang Yuru, and she was a native of Dingyuan in the north, when the Taiping army went north to Dingyuan, because the little girl's family was an official eunuch, and her grandfather also led troops to suppress the Taiping army, the Taiping army burned her house into ruins, and almost killed her family. Her father suddenly couldn't hold it anymore and left her forever.

Wiping her tears of sympathy, the middle-aged woman first comforted the little girl named Yang Yuru, and then asked, "Yuru, what are you going to do when you and your father come to Luzhou?" Don't you know that Luzhou is also occupied by the Taiping army? ”

"My dad brought me to my father-in-law's friend." Yang Yuru choked up and said: "My father-in-law has a friend who holds a group practice here in Hefei and helps my father-in-law have contact with my family, so my father took me here to join him." ”

"You're a father-in-law?" The middle-aged woman hurriedly asked, "Are you already married?" ”

"It's just a marriage." Yang Yuru's little face showed shame, and she said in a low voice: "I haven't officially married yet." ”

"Oh, and who is your friend?" The middle-aged woman asked again.

"Hefei regimental training envoy, Li Hongzhang." Yang Yuru replied in a low voice: "My father just took me to him, asked him to take us in temporarily, and then help us find my father-in-law." ”

"Mr. Li Lian?" The middle-aged woman next to the young man who had not spoken suddenly spoke, and said with some surprise: "Mr. Li Lian is not in Hefei now?" He had been transferred to Hezhou some time ago to play long hair, and he was not in Hefei. ”

The little girl Yang Yuru was stunned, and then couldn't help crying, and the middle-aged woman comforted her while scolding her son: "How do you know so well the whereabouts of Li Lian's group training?" Do you still want to be a group practice? My mother told you a few times, you haven't learned martial arts yet, and you are sent to death in vain when you go to the battlefield, why don't you listen? ”

The young man was very afraid of his mother, so he obediently closed his mouth and didn't dare to say anything, while the middle-aged woman asked Yang Yuru again: "Yuru, do you have any other relatives?" ”

"My grandfather was sent to Xinjiang by the imperial court because he lost the battle because of long hair, and my second uncle followed." Yang Yuru cried and said, "I don't have any other relatives besides them." ”

The middle-aged woman looked embarrassed, and then asked, "Yuru, where is your father-in-law?" What's his name? ”

"He's in Shanghai, and his name is Wu Chaoyue." Yang Yuru replied truthfully, and said with a red face: "I haven't seen him, I only know that he is the Sipin Daotai in Jiangsu." ”

"Wu Chaoyue?" The young man jumped up and exclaimed, "Could it be that the world's well-known Wu Chaoyue Wu?" Legend has it that when Long Hair hears his name, he can scare Wu who pees his crotch? ”

Yang Yuru nodded, and the young man was stunned at first, and then his face was ecstatic, and he said to his mother: "Mother, you see that little sister Yuru is so pitiful, why don't we help her." Let me go to Hezhou to find Mr. Li Lian, or let me go directly to Shanghai to ....... ”

The young man did not dare to say any more when he said this, because his mother had already sneered and asked, "And then?" Just enter the regiment and train on the battlefield? ”

The young man didn't dare to answer, but said cautiously, "Then you can't let Little Sister Yuru live here all the time, right?" ”

"You can't let her live here all the time." The middle-aged woman nodded, and said, "Clean up these days, let Yuru raise her body at our house, and then my mother will send her to Hezhou with you and hand her over to Mr. Li Lian." ”

"Mother, you and I will send Yuru's little sister to Hezhou?" The young man was overjoyed when he heard this.

The middle-aged woman nodded and said: "Lord Wu is loyal to the country, public and selfless, for the sake of the court affairs and our common people to live and work in peace and contentment, even his wife who has not been through the door can not take care of it, our mother and son have nothing to repay, now since we have met his wife who has not passed the door, it is the will of heaven, God gives us the opportunity to repay Lord Wu for our mother and son, of course we have to send Yuru's little sister to his side safely." ”

Hearing his mother's words, the young man smiled, and Yang Yuru was so grateful that she cried again, but if Yang Yuru could know what her fiancé would be doing, then she would definitely only cry more sad and desperate...... (To be continued.) )